Title

Authors

Laura G. Waters '19, Gettysburg College

Document Type

Student Research Paper

Date of Creation

Spring 2017

Department

Civil War Era Studies

Abstract

An investigation into the personal letters of one man on the Western Front, this paper seeks to uncover some of the complexities of emotion and emoting within British societal narratives of the First World War. Conceptions of masculinity and stoicism imposed limitations on soldierly expression, forcing them to abide by preordained 'scripts' to continually qualify as men. The difficulty lay in finding ways to cope emotionally with their surroundings while still playing their 'roles'. By looking closely at the words and coping mechanisms of one man, Lieutenant-Colonel H.J.C. Peirs, in the aftermath of the Battle of Loos, this paper attempts to frame the emotive techniques of soldiers struggling to find peace within while remaining a 'man' without.

Comments

Written for CWES 320: Aftermath: The Experience of War and 'Modern' Memory.